


Black Tea

by traptrixnepenthes



Category: Future Card Buddyfight
Genre: M/M, i'll stop writing kyotas when i'm dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-21 03:27:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14275932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/traptrixnepenthes/pseuds/traptrixnepenthes
Summary: in an alternate universe, i don't write kyotas microfiction that's centered on character analysis and also kyoya making tasuku food





	Black Tea

There was a kitchen in Disaster HQ, and even though it seemed weirdly out of place, it was clearly a regular necessity. Other than Shido, none of the members really had anyplace else to call home, much less somewhere that would give them free bed, shelter, and food. So it kind of became regular for him to sit at one of the tables and watch.  
  
Davide shoving some cheap meal into the microwave and griping at Rouga, who was pretending to be deaf, about how stupid Shido was. Sofia, who made all her meal portions in twos, presumably for the always-absent Terumi, clumsily handling a knife like she used it for something other than slicing vegetables. Retsu silently making tea and never anything else. None of them paid him any mind, not anymore. His silence and stillness had rendered him invisible as he sat there in the corner, only eating his meals in the early morning before anyone else woke up, and late at night after everyone else had fallen asleep. So peoplewatching had become the hobby of the Purgatory Knight, Ryuuenji Tasuku.   
  
And then there was Kyoya, who had his home with his warm bed and all the amenities he could possibly ask for, who also slept here, in this cold hall hollowed out of the ground. He even ate here, in this depressing little kitchen, just like every other member of Disaster. Even the break room at the Card Office had been better than this.   
  
But Kyoya was the only person who still looked over to the corner seat.   
  
"Good evening."   
  
And it was only Kyoya that he ever gave a response to.   
  
"It's after midnight. It isn't evening anymore."   
  
"It's not like I can just say goodnight. We both know you aren't sleeping anytime soon." Kyoya tilted his head. "I'd really prefer it if you took that silly helmet off when we talk. I know you want to keep your identity a secret, but it's hard to understand you and it's not like anyone else can see you here."   
  
Tasuku scowled under the helmet, and for a few moments he didn't make any motion to remove it. But better to do it now than later. The armor was just a Core Gadget, a formation of light and desire, but it still felt as heavy as real metal when he lifted the helmet off of his head and placed it on the table. "If someone sees me, it's your fault."   
  
"Come on, now. Is working with me really so embarrassing that you even need to hide your face from your coworkers?"   
  
_Yes_ was the response that Tasuku wanted to spit in his face, but it wasn't quite true. He wasn't embarrassed of working with Kyoya, whose lofty ideals to save the world from those who had corrupted it so closely mirrored his own, but of what he'd done to get here--abandoned his friends, his family, the faint hope of being able to return to the Buddy Police, just for an even fainter hope of being able to work towards his goals again...how was he supposed to face anyone after all of that?   
  
Well. Anyone but the person who had given him the chance in the first place.   
  
"It's more comfortable," Tasuku said flatly, and Kyoya smiled that inscrutable smile. "What do you want?"   
  
"Is it a crime to want to talk to you?"   
  
"Yes."   
  
Kyoya laughed and sat down across from him. "I see you here every night, but I don't think we've had the chance to spend a little time together since our match. Really, if I'd known you were going to be so standoffish in person, maybe I would have chosen someone else. My knight."   
  
"I'm not _your knight_. You were the one who gave me that title."   
  
"And you were the one who brought into existence that suit of armor you're wearing. Maybe you'd like it better if I called you Tasuku again?"   
  
Tasuku ignored him, staring instead at a spot on the wall behind his head. Why did Kyoya want to talk to him? He'd already said he didn't have time for friends, and it wasn't like Kyoya was going to be an exception. Even if he _was_ the person Tasuku had given up his entire life for.   
  
They sat there for a few moments, and then Kyoya stood again. "Do you want some tea?"   
  
"No."   
  
"It's an herbal blend," Kyoya continued as he started rifling through the kitchen, completely ignoring what Tasuku had said, "so it won't keep you up if you're planning on sleeping soon.” Two mugs placed on the counter. Water into the kettle. Seeing Kyoya use a stove was a somehow alien thing, but he put the water on to boil and pulled a chair over to it.

They sat in silence for a while, Kyoya watching the flickering of the gas flames, Tasuku stewing in his thoughts. He wasn't sure if he hated Kyoya--for being the one who gave him the option to abandon everything, for giving him the card that had hurt Jack, for annoyingly insisting on being kind and supportive and holding such pure ideals when everything outside of these earthbound walls said he was someone bad--or loved him, for all those same reasons. Sure, he'd been the one to give Tasuku the means by which to betray his only family’s trust so badly. But he was also the person who, after seeing just how ruthless Tasuku could be in his pursuit of justice, had given him a second chance to be the person he wanted to be.

“You know...if you don't want to be here, you can just leave.” Kyoya was looking at him again.

“What makes you think I don't want to be here?”

“After all, you're always so quiet and never even try to interact with anything. I'm even getting complaints about it. You're ‘irritating’ in Davide’s words, an ‘eyesore’ in Rouga’s, and Sofia hasn't said anything yet but that's just because she doesn't believe in speaking out of turn, usually.” Kyoya leaned back, his eyes, red like roses, fixed solidly on Tasuku’s. “So why are you still here?”

“I…” How was he supposed to answer that? “It's not like I don't want to be here. I _want_ to be here. By your side is the only place left for me.” It wasn't true, not exactly. But being all on his own without anyone there to catch him was even worse. “But there's no point in getting close with anyone. I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to make a difference.”

“How inspiring!” That smile was on Kyoya's lips again. The one that Tasuku couldn't divine the meaning of. “Does that make me a special exception, then?”

“Not really.”

Kyoya looked back at the kettle, and tilted his head as if listening for something. Then he stood and turned the stove off before going through another cabinet to find a little canister of...tea bags. He dropped two into each mug and then poured hot water into them.

“Not loose leaf? I thought you were rich.”

“This tea is something Rouga brought me,” Kyoya said a bit distantly, apparently completely focused on making sure both mugs had exactly the same amount of water. “Loose leaf teas are...a bit out of his price range.”

“You ever make him some?”

Satisfied with the water levels, Kyoya turned and hit Tasuku with that same bland yet sly smile. “Now why would I do that?”

Tasuku didn't know how to respond to that.

Kyota sat back down in his chair by the counter and fiddled with his phone a little bit, probably to set a timer for how long the tea needed to steep. Their silence fell again, Kyoya watching Tasuku’s face, Tasuku struggling to keep it even.

“Tasuku.”

“Don't call me that.”

“My knight.”

“Don't call me that either.”

“You look tired. You need to stop keeping the hours you are.”

“I'm fine.”

“Would you like me to put some honey in your tea? It's supposed to help you sleep.”

“I don't like sweets.”

Kyoya frowned. “You're awfully hard to talk to.”

“I know.”

Kyoya just laughed again, and they settled back into their silence. A silent Kyoya was better than a talking one. A silent Kyoya couldn't ask questions that left Tasuku feeling conflicted about what he was doing.

Soon enough Kyoya’s timer went off--the alarm was a piano tune Tasuku hadn't heard before, definitely not the one Kyoya always insisted on playing--and he pulled the tea bags out of the mugs and threw them away. Next was taking the jar of honey that sat on top of the fridge and stirring a spoonful into just one of the mugs. Not both. At least this time Kyoya had listened to him.

Kyoya brought the mugs over, setting one in front of Tasuku. It smelled nice, like a warm spring day, and Kyoya took a sip of his tea. “Drink up before it gets cold.”

“I said I didn't want any tea.”

Kyoya shrugged, and went for the door out.

“Wait. Where are you going?”

“Oh, my. Don't want me to leave?”

“I didn't say that.”

“If you must know, I actually have to go back to work. Trying to live a double life like this means double the work. On one hand, a hero of the world, and on the other...a mindless worker bee at the hive of capitalism that ruins the world. So it goes.”

“You call yourself a hero, huh?”

“Well, to be honest,” Kyoya said, “I'd say that title should go to you instead. I'm simply laying the foundation. It's _you_ who will put our ideals into play.”

“A hero...huh.” A hero. Maybe if someone still considered him that, he wasn't doing so badly after all.

“Well, goodnight.”

Kyoya opened the door and Tasuku jerked to his feet, the clanking of metal drawing Kyoya’s eyes to him again. Tasuku, however, was staring right at Kyoya’s fancy shoes.

“...try to get some sleep when you can.”

Kyoya smiled, and this time it actually felt...warm. “Thank you.”

He left, and the door to the kitchen clicked shut behind him.

Tasuku sat back down and stared at the mug of tea in front of him. Plain and simple white with clear golden-brown tea inside. He glanced back up at the door, just to be sure Kyoya was really gone and wouldn't be coming back, and then carefully removed his gauntlets and set them by his helmet. He wrapped his hands around the mug, and it was so comfortingly warm in the cold underground kitchen. Tasuku let himself take a sip.

There was honey in his tea.


End file.
